After meeting, Chen Xiaobei cut to the chase, "Dayong and his men have been in the mountains for two days and haven't returned."
"Organize your people quickly, and we'll go into the mountains to look."
While Lidong was organizing people, Chen Xiaobei ran home to make arrangements.
Upon arriving home, he packed his belongings and assigned the most important tasks to Cui Hongyu.
Tomorrow morning, they first needed to go to Xiao Jia Town to deliver apples to Feng Xiaoyue. Cui Hongyu should take Chen Qiao'er with her. After all, this was a family matter, and it was not appropriate to always have Chen Xiaobo go.
Just in case, he also specifically instructed Cui Hongyu to have Liu Rumei send two people to accompany him tomorrow. He insisted that this matter must be listened to.
Another task was to deliver apples to Old Wu in the county town.
Cui Hongyu had met Old Wu once, so this was not a problem.
Furthermore, he absolutely could not return tonight, and many of the village guards also needed to enter the mountains.
Therefore, the village's defense force would be weakened, and he still had to ask Yang Zhi and Liu Rumei for reinforcements.
Upon meeting Liu Rumei, Chen Xiaobei stated his purpose directly. Upon hearing that he was going into the mountains, Liu Rumei was surprised, "Xiaobei, Liu Ce and his men just went into the mountains a couple of days ago, why are you going again?"
Xiaobei hesitated for a moment, then chose to lie, "Oh, it's just that I found out today that some villagers secretly entered the mountains a few days ago, saying they were going to dig for herbs and haven't returned. I had to go in and take a look."
Liu Rumei believed his explanation wholeheartedly. After all, it was common for villagers to go into the mountains to dig for herbs, and he himself had benefited from Chen Xiaobei's herb digging.
"Alright, rest assured that you can enter the mountains. If the back village team is short-handed, I will supplement them. I will personally accompany Hongyu to Xiao Jia Town tomorrow."
With Liu Rumei's promise, Chen Xiaobei could enter the mountains with peace of mind.
Chen Xiaobei and Lidong gathered over a dozen people this time.
Chen Xiaobei used his large water skin, filling it twice with water for two people to carry. Others carried dry rations.
They also brought some of the fruits left at home. In critical moments, these could stave off hunger and supplement hydration.
Of course, repeating crossbows and torches were also essential.
Walking along the mountain path, Chen Xiaobei recalled his thoughts from a while ago.
He had thought about making some thunder bombs earlier, which could be set off at night if they encountered danger in the mountains. They could be seen from the foot of the mountain. It seemed this matter needed to be expedited.
The group was familiar with the terrain and soon reached the Mountain God Temple.
Chen Xiaobei called out to the group to stop and rest before continuing.
Lidong came over and tentatively asked, "Brother Xiaobei, why don't we shout a few times? Maybe they can hear us nearby."
Chen Xiaobei shook his head, "No, there are people from Da Lao Hei and Liu Rumei on this mountain. If things get complicated, we'll be in an awkward situation."
He had a point. If they shouted here and Liu Ce's group responded, wouldn't that be too embarrassing?
Lidong agreed with Chen Xiaobei's reasoning and had to give up.
After a short rest, Chen Xiaobei still only had the people in front light torches, with the rest following in succession.
They walked until the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. It seemed to be past the third watch. The group was getting tired. It was understandable. They had worked all day and then walked again at night. Who could endure this in the middle of the night?
Chen Xiaobei could clearly feel the team's pace slowing down. He knew it was time to find a place to rest.
"Brother Lidong, I remember there's a patch of woods not far ahead. Everyone can rest there for a while and wait until morning."
Upon hearing that they could rest, everyone's spirits lifted somewhat.
Chen Xiaobei's suggestion was correct. There was indeed a patch of woods not far ahead. Upon entering, the group was so exhausted they almost collapsed and fell asleep without saying a word.
However, Chen Xiaobei was not sleepy.
The image of Da Yong's white-haired mother kneeling before him repeatedly appeared in his mind. This image pained him. He had been careless. In the future, he would never send only one person into the mountains again. At least two should go together. Or even more, at least three to four people.
And they should be equipped with repeating crossbows. He had been short-sighted at the time. Da Yong had entered the mountain with Da Lao Hei and his men unarmed.
But another practical problem was that he only had ten repeating crossbows. If they were equipped according to this standard, ten repeating crossbows wouldn't be enough.
Moreover, given Liu Rumei's situation, it was likely she had suffered misfortune and fled to his place for refuge. It would be difficult to get repeating crossbows from her again, so he had to find other solutions.
Lost in thought, Chen Xiaobei dozed off and was awakened by urgent shouts.
It was Lidong shouting for him.
"Brother Xiaobei, look quickly."
Chen Xiaobei opened his eyes and realized it was already broad daylight. The sun was shining on the treetops. It made sense; this area was at a higher elevation, so the sky would be brighter than below the mountain.
Following Lidong's pointed direction, in the thin mist ahead, a patch of colorful light was flashing.
Seeing this, Chen Xiaobei suddenly remembered something. The previous two times he led people into the mountains to repair the iron cable bridge, he had seen a similar sight, also on top of that small hill in the distance.
Since the path to that place was not on the way to the summit, he hadn't gone there. The recurring phenomenon piqued Chen Xiaobei's curiosity again.
Yes, he had to find an opportunity to go and see.
This strange phenomenon lasted for about ten to twenty minutes before disappearing. The group had merely witnessed a novelty, and once the spectacle was gone, their interest naturally waned.
Li Dong seized the opportunity and said, "Alright, alright, everyone eat quickly. After eating, we'll continue forward."
As he was speaking, someone shouted loudly, "Look, isn't that Dayong?"
Chen Xiaobei quickly rushed out of the woods and looked into the distance. A few black dots were approaching him. The person in front, by instinct, seemed to be Dayong.
Lidong immediately turned to Chen Xiaobei and said, "You all wait here. I'll go up and check."
Chen Xiaobei nodded and sat down, quickly devouring a few mouthfuls of food.
Before long, Lidong returned with Dayong, and behind Dayong were Da Lao Hei and Yang Chun.
Seeing Chen Xiaobei, Da Lao Hei appeared very pleased. From a distance, he waved and laughed, "Brother Xiaobei, why are you also in the mountains?" Su Dan novel website
Chen Xiaobei could only tell the truth, "You haven't come down the mountain for two days, so I was a bit worried and brought people up to take a look. I didn't expect to meet you here."
Da Lao Hei clasped his fist, "Thank you for your concern, Brother Xiaobei. We circled the mountaintop twice, which delayed us a bit."
Indeed, walking to the mountaintop along this path only covered a tiny fraction of Qingniu Mountain, with much more of it remaining unexplored and unknown.
Considering Da Lao Hei's obsession with Qingniu Mountain some time ago, it was not unreasonable for him to circle around a few more times.